Wierd rear suspension

Hey I got a 75' Nova, with a stock rear suspension and air shocks. And everytime I drive over a speed bump the rear feels like it slams to the ground violently. Does anyone know whats going on here?  

hitting a speed bump at 45 mph will make it feel like that everytime...

but...

walk around the back of your car...   push down on the back as hard as you can... then let go... it should up above normal then settle back to normal height...

if it bounces down and up several times...  your air shocks probably have worn valving inside.. reduced damping ability..

it could also be the rubber stops have broken off..  these stop the axle housing from hitting the body...

taking the excess stuff out of the trunk will lessen it also...

you have several options...     first thing to do it to weigh the back of your car.... with you in it...   find a truck scale...  drive the front wheels on...     stop... read the scale...   drive the whole car on...   stop.. read the scale...   drive the car off the scale.. stopping with only the rear wheels on the scale...  this will help a lot when talking to spring suppliers..

there are several variations in leif springs available...   depending on how much your car weighs...

there are also some booster shocks available with coil over springs on them to fit that model... not expensive ...


here is a part number from Oreilly's with the coil springs on them .  Monroe Sensa-Trac Shock Absorber Part Number: 58540  

The issue may not be with your shocks, but with your springs. Springs support the car, the shocks (even air shocks)dampen the oscillation that occurs when the springs are compressed.

I would not go with the overload shocks since they can stress the shocks mounting points and can cause problems later on.

Jake